June 2, 2024
Written by KRTN RADIO: www.krtnradio.com/2024/06/02/ledger-fernandez-delivers-3-million-dollar-check-for-raton-film-school-project/

Congresswoman Teresa Ledger-Fernandez (NM-Dist 3) arrived in Raton on Thursday, May 30 with a $3,000,000 check for the City of Raton Film School and Media Project.

The capital injection put the project on firm ground and several local and regional officials and interested onlookers gathered for the check presentation in the soon-to-be-converted Kearny Elementary School.

An additional $1.1 million dollars in state capital outlay funds had been secured by the City through NM Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham, to kick off the renovations at Kearny. The overall project is estimated to cost roughly $6 million dollars and will turn an abandoned 20,000+ sq ft elementary school previously set for demolition, into a workforce training center aimed at facilitating the region to tap into New Mexico’s burgeoning film economy.

In addition to the renovation of the building and the workforce training, a big part of the project is an expansion and transformation of the old gymnasium to become a New Mexico-qualified soundstage and home of a state-of-the-art Extended Reality (XR) studio which will be used to teach cutting edge technology in the Northern New Mexico region.

It’s been a long, sometimes arduous road as the initial inspiration for the project came in 2021. Early in 2022, the City of Raton submitted a request for Community Project Funding to Congresswoman Leger Fernández. Her office received nearly 150 requests and was permitted to submit only 15 final projects for further consideration by the House Appropriations Committee. The Raton Film Studio and Education Center was selected as one of those 15 final projects submitted to the Appropriations Committee.

In July, Leger Fernández helped secure the House passage of $22.7 million in appropriations funding to help families and communities in New Mexico which included the $3 million towards the Raton Film Studio and Education Center. Congresswoman Leger Fernández also serves on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

After passage by the House, final Senate approval didn’t come till September and then the official announcement came in the form of a big check delivered by Ledger-Fernandez.

The program is being managed and administered by El Raton Media Works (ERMW) which is a nonprofit Arts2Work workforce development and career opportunity hub serving Colfax County and surrounding areas.  ERMW’s mission statement is to help both youth and adults in the community to thrive in a technology and media-driven world by providing access to tools, training, and careers in all aspects of media arts and production and to bring film, television, and emerging media projects to northern New Mexico to invigorate the local economy and create a wide range of community and workforce development opportunities with local/ regional businesses and educational institutions.

Filmmaking and television production  requires not just production crews of directors, actors, and scriptwriters, but it also needs a complete economy of workers like electricians, carpenters, welders, plumbers, chefs, tailors, painters, and mechanics. ERMW is having a Kearny Pop UP on Saturday, June 8, 2024 from noon to 5 pm.  Different businesses and collaborators will show the different and varied universe of businesses and talents needed for the success of the project.

Ann Theis, Executive Director and Film Liason for the City of Raton, told KRTN that ERMW is still working with the City and architects to finalize plans and details for Phase 1 of renovations which are hoped to be completed by the end of 2025.  She and the board continue to look for other grants and potential investors and partners while spurring interest in using the region for films. They are collecting and promoting a database of crew and locations and EMRW has partnered with Raton Schools and SF Community College this past school year to bring dual credit film courses to Raton High School.